Google Blocking Webposition Gold

[ktaylor310]

Has anyone been following the thread at Webmaster World regarding Google blocking WP Gold? I'm wondering if this effects other ranking software like IBP or is it specific to WP Gold.

[torka]

It's against Google's TOS to use automated rank checking software without one of their API keys. Been that way since forever. They've been specifically advising people to avoid using WPGold without an API for rank checking for ages.

I don't monitor rankings and don't use any of these automated tools, so I haven't been following the discussions. I don't know if they're blocking based on the software being used, or if they're just getting tougher with their non-API automated query blocks.

--Torka

[caseyturton]

Google got tired of the automated submission banging on their servers as well. Google spells out pretty clearly in their webmaster guidelines about this practice. I used to use this software, but stopped a couple years back.

[ktaylor310]

I haven't used Web Position Gold, but at one of my client's insistence I purchased IBP about three years ago. He wanted to receive a monthly report that visually showed how many notches he had gone up or down in his rankings on the various engines. At the time it was a big decision for me to make financially, but I can say that it has paid for itself. Many clients like to have a report that is easy to read and I didn't have to spend as much time checking ranks manually. I never checked more then once a month, but I can see where people obsessed with ranking have probably abused this type of software. In any case, you have to update your descriptions with IBP annually and it was coming up for renewal and I didn't know if it was worth it. I'm not using it as much, so I'm thinking not.

[willscott]

A "friend of mine" (ahem) has suggested he might use a product something like web position and was frustrated with it no longer working.

On another forum, I don't know recall where, the CEO of Web Position pointed out that AOL uses Google data for their search results. I mentioned this to my friend and his team has now run a few and the results look to be spot-on.

So, for anyone who is frustrated by what appears to be Google blocking Web Position, adding AOL to the search engines queried seems an effective way to go. It doesn't help with your years of historical data but does, so far, seem to be giving accurate results.

Will

[redmascot]

It is best never to use any automated softwares when it comes to search engine optimization. On several occasions, I have tried to use these softwares to check search engine positioning of various websites which we optimize. However, our I.P address got blocked by Google and it shows that they do not entertain any automated queries to track search engine positions.

[spencer]

You can use the Google API to do automated queries, as long as you have a key.

[Alhazred]

I was using IBP until recently, it was showing "no results" for all queries in Google, but was accurate for MSN Search and other smaller search engines.